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This week from CPR’s Arts Bureau: Moving past apartheid, the music of 1968 and more

Colorado Public Radio

February 20, 2015

Handbill for Canned Heat at the Family Dog, March 27, 1968. (Photo: History Colorado)

Check out this week's in-depth coverage of the Colorado culture scene from CPR's Arts Bureau here.

A viral racist video made by four white students at a South African university in 2008 inspired Donna Bryson’s debut book, “It’s a Black White Thing.” The former AP Johannesburg bureau chief, who now lives in Denver, spoke with Colorado Matters’ Elaine Grant about a nation still struggling to move past apartheid.

In 1968, bands like Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Big Brother & the Holding Company performed in Colorado. History Colorado’s Elisa Phelps gave Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner a rock history lesson and explained how this music reflected the social and political upheaval of the time.

Martin Luther King Jr. first heard “If I Can Help Somebody” at a Denver church in 1956. Vern L. Howard, chair of Denver’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission, told CPR’s Ryan Warner the story of how the hymn became one of King’s favorites. The Spirituals Project Choir will perform it at the Lakewood Cultural Center Sunday.

On Feb. 25, Colorado Public Television will debut “If Not Us,” a documentary about a project that uses storytelling to explore social and civic activism themes.

International music festival Bravo! Vail unveiled its 2015 season earlier this week. The concert lineup includes performances by the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony, among others.

The Colorado Music Party will return to Austin for its third year to host an unofficial event happening alongside the South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival. Colorado artists performing this year include In the Whale, Bonnie and the Beard, The Yawpers and more. Bands like Inner Oceans and SPELLS will also play the official festival.

Denver street artist Jolt is guest curating Westword's annual Artopia. The events combine art, music and fashion on Saturday at Denver's City Hall club. Jolt tells CPR News that he wants to bring the focus back to the art.

This summer, Colorado will get the first peak at new independent television shows looking to make it big on the small screen. The inaugural SeriesFest will screen pilot programs and other content from around the world and host panels during a four-day festival in Denver.

A destructive rampage carried out in Colorado in 2004 inspired a Russian film that's up for Best Foreign Language Film at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony. "Leviathan" director Andrey Zviyagintsev spoke with CPR arts editor Chloe Veltman about adapting what he calls a universal story and adding a more Russian ending.